After bidding farewell to the neurotic Qi Qingfei, Chen Xiao immediately went to find Li Ziqing and Lin Jie.
Without any pleasantries, the three headed straight for the villa.
The villa Lin Jie gifted to Chen Xiao was Villa Number One in Tianhai Yipin.
This was a true detached villa, not a townhouse.
Outside, the lawn was lush green, complete with a fountain, and could accommodate over a dozen cars.
If it were normally put up for sale, this villa could easily fetch a nine-figure sum.
Unfortunately, due to the poor reputation of Tianhai Yipin, with rumors of hauntings circulating, this villa remained vacant.
Lin Jie's use of it as a gift was indeed a worthwhile investment.
After all, regardless of whether Chen Xiao could change the feng shui here, simply being able to befriend such an impressive individual as Chen Xiao was more than enough to recoup her costs.
Chen Xiao inspected the interior of the villa. The decoration was extremely luxurious, with all furniture and appliances being of the highest quality, befitting the residence.
Chen Xiao and his mother could move in without even needing to pack a bag.
The only drawback was its sheer size; with just Chen Xiao and his mother living there, it felt somewhat empty.
If the Gu family, father and daughter, could be invited to live there, it would help alleviate some of that emptiness.
It would be even better if Li Ziqing could be persuaded to move in.
Such a large house would undoubtedly be time-consuming and labor-intensive to clean.
And Chen Xiao had just acquired a maid.
In that case... well, the place would feel more lived-in, and Chen Xiao's more unsavory thoughts would also be satisfied.
Just as Chen Xiao was lost in his daydreams, Lin Jie asked, "Chen Xiao, what do you think of this place? Are you satisfied?"
Chen Xiao did not appear overly pleased, merely nodding slightly. "It's alright. Apart from being a bit too large, there are no other issues."
Lin Jie initially thought Chen Xiao was joking. Having a large house was a problem?
But Chen Xiao's serious demeanor suggested he wasn't kidding.
This left her unsure whether to laugh or not, creating an awkward situation.
Chen Xiao, however, broke the ice with an even more awkward statement.
"Sister Lin, to be frank, I've heard all the rumors about this place, and I know exactly what your intentions are."
Lin Jie's expression immediately tightened, and she quickly said, "Chen Xiao, let me explain. I didn't mean to..."
Chen Xiao didn't let her finish, waving his hand to interrupt her. "Sister Lin, you don't need to explain. I'm not blaming you. Besides, I can't just take such a large house for nothing. I'd feel uneasy if I didn't do something to help you, don't you think?"
Lin Jie felt incredibly awkward. "Yes... no, no, no. Chen Xiao, please listen to me. If you're not satisfied, Sister Lin has other properties. Pick whichever one you like!"
Chen Xiao chuckled. "No need to pick. This one is fine. Let's go, Sister Lin. Show me around the grounds. I want to see if there's really a problem here!"
"Alright, I'll take you. Let's go."
Lin Jie looked as if she had made a mistake.
The grounds were vast, and a full circuit by car took nearly half an hour.
After the tour, Chen Xiao instructed, "Sister Lin, let's head back to the East Gate."
Lin Jie obediently drove the car near the East Gate. Chen Xiao surveyed the area and finally pointed to a patch of land near the guardhouse. "Sister Lin, dig down here!"
"Okay!"
Lin Jie readily agreed.
Of course, she didn't have to do the digging herself. She called for the security guards and had them dig at the spot Chen Xiao indicated.
The sky was gradually darkening. The security guards had been digging for a while and had already excavated a three-meter pit, but they hadn't found anything.
The head security guard approached to ask for instructions. "Manager Lin, should we continue digging?"
"Keep digging!"
Upon receiving a nod from Chen Xiao, she ordered.
Although the security guards grumbled, they had no choice but to comply. After all, they were earning a salary from the owner and had to do as they were told.
Finally, when they had dug over four meters deep, a security guard hit something in the soil.
"There's something! I found something!"
The security guard shouted excitedly, but the next second, he suddenly shrieked, "Ah—holy crap, what is that?"
What the security guard had unearthed was a stark white human skull!
The security guards, terrified, immediately dropped their shovels and fled!
They had heard the rumors of the grounds being haunted, but they never imagined it was true!
"Everyone, don't be afraid, don't run! With Master Chen here, you'll be fine!"
Having experienced something similar before, Lin Jie had become much more resilient. Not only was she not scared, but she even tried to reassure the security guards.
However, the security guards were in no mood to listen to her. Their lives were at stake, and at that moment, who cared if she was the big boss?
In desperation, Lin Jie shouted, "Those who stay and finish the job will receive an extra ten thousand bonus this month, no, twenty thousand!"
Under the lure of a substantial reward, brave souls emerged!
Lin Jie's financial influence worked its magic, and more than half of the security guards returned.
Seeing this, the other security guards also stopped running and obediently returned.
If they were going to die, they would die together. Who was afraid of whom?
Moreover, the big boss, Lin Jie, was still there.
Her life was so valuable, and she wasn't afraid, so why should they be?
"Chen Xiao, what do we do next?"
After calming the security guards, Lin Jie asked Chen Xiao what to do next.
Chen Xiao waved his hand. "Let's go to the West Gate!"
Upon reaching the West Gate, they followed the same procedure: continue digging!
This time, the security guards unearthed several more stark white bones from the ground.
Then they moved on to the South Gate, the North Gate...
In short, after digging at all four gates, the security guards unearthed a pile of skeletal remains.
Under Chen Xiao's careful arrangement, this pile of bones was assembled into a complete human skeleton.
Lin Jie's face turned ashen. "I can't believe there are so many malevolent things here!"
Clearly, she had been targeted. Although she didn't know who was behind it, someone was deliberately trying to frame her.
Otherwise, why would a perfectly good development have a corpse buried within it?
Chen Xiao, however, smiled at her words. "These aren't malevolent things; they are just skeletal remains. You haven't seen the truly malevolent things yet!"
Lin Jie jumped in fright. "Ah? There are more?"
Chen Xiao waved his hand. "Let's go, we're heading back to Villa Number One!"
Seeing Chen Xiao's confidence, everyone's courage grew, and they followed him, carrying their shovels.
The group arrived at Villa Number One in a grand procession.
Chen Xiao pointed to a decorative tree. "Dig this tree up for me!"
It was then that everyone noticed that amidst the row of decorative trees, a jujube tree was interspersed.
As the saying goes, a thorn in the eye, a splinter in the flesh.
Even in rural households, jujube trees were not planted in courtyards.
In such a high-class villa complex, how could a jujube tree have been planted?
Needless to say, there must be something wrong here!